HARTFORD -- State Correction Department Commissioner Leo Arnone says he will retire in April after 39 years of service in state government.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Monday that he received notice from Arnone about his intent to retire April 1. The governor says a nationwide search for Arnone's successor will begin in the coming weeks.

Arnone wrote in his letter to Malloy that he wanted to spend more time with his family after working long hours including weekends and being on call 24 hours a day.

Arnone began working as a correctional officer in 1974 and rose through the ranks to become captain and later warden of the Hartford Correctional Center. He was appointed correction commissioner in 2010 by then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell and reappointed by Malloy last year.